Yesterday, the Government issued a document for public consultation, which gives an option of implementing the European Court decision known as the ‘Vnuk judgment’. The ruling makes it compulsory for anyone using any form of motorised transport to have third party damage and injury insurance. This will affect all participants in all forms of motorsport.

The insurance industry has made it clear to government that third party risks for motorsport activities are uninsurable, not least because of the sheer number of potential vehicle damage claims that would arise. Therefore, if implemented, the Vnuk judgment would wipe out all legal motor and motorcycle sport activity.

In the UK, the motorsport industry employs over 50,000 people, generates a total of £11 billion of sales each year and is backed up by a world-leading high performance engineering industry.

Motorcycle competition is a popular UK Sport and generates much needed income in rural areas, with over 1.9 million spectators watching around 58,000 riders attend an average of over 4000 off-road and track events each year. These range from junior motocross to the British Superbikes, which would all end without the required insurance under the ECJ ruling .

MCIA, ACU and AMCA call on the government to exempt motor and motorcycle sport from any changes to insurance law which arise from the ECJ judgement. While the UK remains in the EU, even a temporary implementation of the ruling, as suggested by the Department for Transport in its consultation document, would be fatally damaging to what is an important industry and net contributor to the UK economy.

“At a stroke, this would wipe out a successful industry and all the jobs that go with it, as well as eliminating a popular leisure pursuit for 1.9 million people, along with the boost that this gives to both local and national economies.

“If the government implements the Vnuk judgment un-amended, British motorcycle sport would end in the UK. Given that we are coming out of the EU, we are astonished that the government is even considering an option to implement Vnuk. We call on ministers to end uncertainty and put a stop to Vnuk in the UK.”

Background

The Vnuk judgment imposes compulsory third party injury and damage insurance to all vehicles of any kind when used on any type of land. As well as affecting all motorsport vehicles, it could affect electric bicycles, sit-on lawnmowers, golf buggies, mobility scooters and even uninsured vehicles parked on private property under the Statutory Off-Road Notification scheme. The ruling stems from a case involving a Slovenian farm worker, who was hurt falling from a ladder, which was hit by a reversing tractor.

Highways England, the company responsible for running over 4000 miles of England’s motorways and major trunk roads, is to become the third partner in a landmark collaboration to improve motorcycle rider safety. The government owned company will join the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) as an equal partner in facilitating practical changes to roads, as detailed in a jointly written whitepaper: ‘Realising the Motorcycling Opportunity: A Motorcycle Safety and Transport Policy Framework’.

The Framework calls for motorcycles and scooters to be included in mainstream transport policy and for rider safety to be consistently factored into national road design, which has not been the case in the past. Seven key areas have been identified, which would make roads safer for riders, along with actions as to how this can be achieved practically. These include: safer infrastructure, expanding road user education, increasing awareness and training and working in partnership with cycle groups.

The Framework also advocates unlocking the benefits of motorcycles and demonstrating exactly how they offer a practical solution to congestion, as well as improving personal mobility for people without access to other forms of transport.

Highways England has a goal of bringing the number of people killed or injured on the strategic road network as close as possible to zero by 2040. It will work with police and MCIA across all seven areas identified in the Framework and will lead on ‘safer infrastructure’.

Quotes

Mike Wilson, Highways England’s Chief Highways Engineer, said: “Safety is our top priority and we believe no one should be harmed when travelling or working on our road network. We are committed to both reducing the number of motorcycle incidents and casualties on our roads and to improving the experience motorcyclists have on those roads; this influential partnership with the industry and police supports that commitment.”

Deputy Chief Constable for North Yorkshire Police, Tim Madgwick, who is the national motorcycle lead for the National Police Chiefs Council says: “The Police service is on the front line, dealing with the devastation that is caused to families and the greater community by road traffic collisions. The opportunity to work with both Highways England and the Motorcycle Industry Association gives us far greater scope to make our roads a safer place, not only for those who use powered two wheelers, but for all road users. In addition to the safety aspect, encouraging greater use of motorcycles will also contribute greatly to reducing congestion and therefore journey times across the country.”

Karen Cole, Director of Safety and Training, says: “Highways England brings significant resource to this ambitious project; financially and in terms of influence, expertise and evidence-based decision making; add this to police backing and we have an unprecedented opportunity to make a huge difference to riders”.

Motorcycle registrations in the largest EU markets - France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK - grew by 7.5% during the first 10 months of 2016, compared to the same period of 2015, reaching 700,098 units.

Motorcycle registrations in the largest EU markets - France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK - grew by 7.4% during the first three quarters of 2016, compared to the same period of 2015, reaching 649,599 units.

At least 1,051,257 powered-two and three-wheelers were registered during the first three quarters of 2016 in the EU. This represents an increase of 4.4% compared to the 1,006,684 vehicles registered during the same period of 2015.

Motorcycle registrations

Cumulative motorcycle registrations grew by 7.2% during the first three quarters of 2016 on a year-on year basis. A total of 802,767 motorcycles were registered between January and September 2016, against 749,128 during the same period of 2015.

Moped registrations

At least 248,490 mopeds were registered during the first nine months of 2016 in the EU, whilst 257,556 had been registered during the same period of 2015. This represents a decrease of 3.5%. Moped registrations increased in Spain (+5%, 12,729 units) and the Netherlands (+2.8%, 55,363 units). They remained stable in Austria (-0.2%, 12,366 units) and France (-0.8%, 58,040 units) but declined in Italy (-2.1%, 19,862 units) and Poland (-14.2%, 21,432 units).

A total of at least 902,791 powered-two and three-wheelers were registered during the first eight months of 2016 in the EU. This represents an increase of 3.3% compared to the 874,075 vehicles registered during the same period of 2015.Registrations performed positively in most of the key European markets including Italy (+10.6%, 167,540 units), Spain (+8.6%, 111,204 units), UK (+5.6%, 85,409 units) and Germany (+2.5%, 130,437 units). They remained stable in France (-0.1%, 173,588 units).

Motorcycle registrations

Cumulative motorcycle registrations grew by 6% during the first eight months of 2016 on a year-on year basis. A total of 718,539 motorcycles were registered between January and August 2016, against 678,012 during the same period of 2015.Year-on-year motorcycle registrations increased in all of the largest European markets, including Italy (+12.2%, 150,028 units), Spain (+9.4%, 100,297 units), UK (+6.9%, 79,872 units), Germany (+2.5%, 130,437 units) and France (+1%, 115,548 units).

Moped registrations

A total of 191,644 mopeds were registered during the first eight months of 2016 in the EU, whilst 201,251 had been registered during the same period of 2015. This represents a decrease of 4.8%. Moped registrations increased in Spain (+2.2%, 10,097 units) and the Netherlands (+0.1%, 48,046 units) but decreased in Austria (-1.5%, 11,118 units), Italy (-1.6%, 17,512 units), France (-2.1%, 58,040 units) and Poland (-16.8%, 19,046 units).

Motorcycle registrations in the largest EU markets - France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK - grew by 6.4% during the first eight months of 2016, compared to the same period of 2015, reaching more than 576,180 units.

On 3 and 4 of October 2016 the German Institute for Motorcycle Safety (Institut für Zweiradsicherheit e.V., IFZ) organised its annual conference on powered-two wheeler safety. Close to 200 attendees including road safety experts, policy-makers and industry representatives had the opportunity to exchange views and discuss state-of-the-art research on powered-two wheeler safety.

The presentations delivered during the conference addressed a wide range of issues including motorcycle riding techniques, traffic filtering, modellisation of personal protective equipment, use forward collision warning systems, and the potential safety benefits of eCall systems for motorcycles. Also, as part of the event, ACEM Secretary General Antonio Perlot moderated a round table panel on the opportunites and challenges future of intelligent transport systems for the motorcycle sector in the Euroepan Union.

The IFZ safety conference took place against the background of the 2016 edition of INTERMOT in Cologne, which attracted about 220,000 visitors from 95 countries. 40 new motorcycle models were launched by vehicle manufacturers during the fair.

The conference programme and all the presentations delivered during the IFZ safety conference will be made available at the IFZ website: www.ifz.de